1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light source control device for controlling a plurality of light sources and a game machine having such a light source control device.
2. Related Art
A game machine such as a reel gaming machine or a pinball game machine is devised to perform renditions that appeal to the visual sense, acoustic sense, or feeling of a player so as to improve the interest of the player. In particular, in order to perform a rendition that appeals to the visual sense of a player, the game machine may have a large number of light sources. As the light sources, for example, light-emitting diodes (LED) are used. Red, blue, green LEDs are used in combination with each other to perform a rendition that variously changes emission colors.
In order to improve a dramatic rendition, several hundred LEDs may be arranged on the front surface of the game machine. Depending on renditions, emission luminances or emission periods of the LEDs are adjusted to make it possible to variously change emission states in the front surface of the game machine.
However, with an increase in the number of LEDs mounted on a game machine, the number of lines for driving the LEDs increases, and the number of terminals that are arranged in a processor unit for rendition and output signals for controlling the LEDs also increases. When the number of lines increases, the lines are difficult to be arranged on the rear surface of the game machine, and a processor unit for rendition also increases in cost.
Thus, in order to reduce the number of lines and the number of terminals of the processor unit for rendition, a light source control device arranged between the processor unit for rendition and the LEDs to control emission intensities and emission timings of the LEDs may be mounted on the game machine.
For example, Utility Model Application Publication No. 4-96789 discloses an LED control device in which a serial/parallel conversion circuit receives a serial data signal and an LED control clock from a CPU of a host device and converts the serial data signal into an LED emission signal as a parallel data signal to cause a plurality of LEDs to emit light.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-218137 discloses a drive system of a light emitter having a driver IC. The driver IC has a conversion circuit to which a serial data line and a clock data line extended from a controller are cascade-connected to convert a serial signal and a parallel signal from the controller, and a drive circuit that operates a light emitter.